The Brisbane River: Art, Ecology and Perception
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The Brisbane River : Art, Ecology and Perception - How Can Painting Communicate and Question the Course and Impact of Human Activity over Time on the Ecology and Perception of the Brisbane River? Author Stuerzl, Jennifer Ingrid Published 2014 Thesis Type Thesis (Masters) School Queensland College of Art DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/712 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366581 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Brisbane River: Art, Ecology and Perception How Can Painting Communicate and Question the Course and Impact of Human Activity over Time on the Ecology and Perception of the Brisbane River? Jennifer Ingrid Stuerzl Bachelor of Arts, The University of Sydney Graduate Diploma in Education, Sydney Teacher’s College Graduate Diploma of Arts in Gallery Management, City Art Institute, Sydney Queensland College of Art Arts, Education and Law Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Philosophy October 2014 ABSTRACT The ecology of the Brisbane River has been subject to damage caused by human activity from colonial times onwards. This damage has been studied scientifically, and is implicated in the Brisbane flood of 2011. I live and work in proximity to the Brisbane River, and it has been central to my practice as an artist. This close engagement with the river has led me to address the issue framed in the research question: how can painting communicate and question the course and impact of human activity over time on the ecology and perception of the Brisbane River? Investigation into Philip Rawson’s analysis of time in art, into the science of Brisbane River ecology, into a range of eco-philosophies – from James Lovelock’s Gaia, to the eco-feminism of Val Plumwood – and into contemporary artists whose work reflects an interest in time and ecology, has been supplemented by theoretical and literary research into the Romantic vision of landscape in colonial painting, and into depiction, representation and landscape, as discussed by Michael Podro, Ernst Gombrich and Simon Schama. Six bodies of work were produced in the course of the research exploring different processes, from site-specific work to studio research in oil paint on different supports. Through the two most recent bodies of work, the 2010 paintings on Claybord and the 2011–12 paintings on copper, responding to the destruction of the 2011 Brisbane River flood, I propose a synergistic resolution to the research enquiry, arrived at by two different routes. The work, developed through research processes that have enriched my practice, examines the complex interaction between the apparent beauty of the river, its temporal rhythms and flow, and the human impositions on the Brisbane River ecosystem evident in water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. The construction of a subjective, fictive reality allows paradox, irony, historical reference and intuition to participate in a representation of ecological threat intended to challenge perceptions of the role of art and of responsibility for the environment. Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Jennifer Ingrid Stuerzl CONTENTS List of Illustrations iii Acknowledgements xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND ARTISTIC CONTEXT 7 Time and Art 8 Ecology, Science and Art 16 Eco-philosophies 23 Art and Illusionism and Depiction 30 Landscape Painting 34 CHAPTER 2 STUDIO AND LOCATION RESEARCH PROCESSES 43 How the Research Question is Addressed by my Studio Practice 45 Studies in Light: The Formation of an Idea 46 Fragile Nature Series 2008 48 River Story Series 2009 57 River Traces Series 2009–2010 68 River with Quadrat 2009 74 River and Inundation Paintings 2010 77 Inundation Paintings 2011–2012 88 Research Processes: Overview 100 CHAPTER 3 A SYNERGISTIC MODEL 102 River and Inundation Series 2010: Oil on Claybord Paintings 103 Inundation Series 2011–12: Oil on Copper Paintings 108 CONCLUSION 120 Notes 127 Reference List 135 Picture Appendix 145 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS All illustrations reproduced are copyright protected: © producers, publishers, galleries, owners, or their agents, as appropriate. Figure 1 Mandy Martin, This Eldorado of Pure Recognition a Desert of Pure Non- recognition, 1998, ochre, pigment, oil/linen 135 x 488 cm Collection of the Artist. Source: http://www.museumsandgalleries.act. gov.au/cmag/documents/4013CMAG-MandyMartincatalogue_260x210_ wfinalTEXT_FA-WEB-SPREAD.pdf Figure 2 Jem Southam, Whale Chine, Looking West, October 13, 1994, photograph Source: Southam, 2005 (n.p.) Figure 3 Jem Southam, Roseworthy Stream and the Red River Meet, Ponsbrittal, 1982/88, photograph Source: Southam, 2005 (n.p.) Figure 4 John Wolseley, Buried Painting near Port Augusta, photograph Source: Grishin 2006, 125 Figure 5 John Wolseley, Buried Painting – Mt Gunson, 1991/92, watercolour, coloured pencil, pencil and charcoal on paper, 54 x 38 cm Source: Grishin 2006, 124 Figure 6 John Wolseley, Bush Notations, Curra Moors with Regent Honeyeater (detail), 2002, carbonised wood, coloured pencil, watercolour, graphite on paper 121 x 546.5 cm Source: Grishin 2006, 191 Figure 7 Eugène von Guérard, Fig Tree on the American Creek near Wollongong, NSW, 1861, oil on canvas, 83.7 x 66.1 cm Source: Pullen 2011, 161 Figure 8 Eugène von Guérard Breakneck Gorge, Hepburn Springs, 1864, oil on canvas, 83.7 x 66.1 cm Source: Pullen 2011, 199 Jennifer Stuerzl, The Brisbane River: Art, Ecology and Perception page iii Figure 9 John Wolseley, The Territories of Birds Remembering Gondwana and Laurasia (detail), 2001 watercolour on paper, 76 x 263 cm Source: Grishin 2006, 179 Figure 10 Susanne McLean, Water Web, 2002, installation at the Powerhouse Museum, Brisbane Source: photograph by Stephen Hobson Figure 11 Mandy Martin Georgina Gidyea Waterhole, Cravens Peak, 2007, pigment/ ochres/acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm Source: Robin et al 2011, 84 Figure 12 Mandy Martin Waddi Wood, Acacia Peuce near Birdsville, 2001, oil, ochre, pigment/linen, 90 x 330 cm Source: Martin et al 2002, 39 Figure 13 Mandy Martin, Red Ochre Cove, 1988, oil on linen, 285 x 121 cm Source: Hayne 1990, 220 Figure 14 Isaac Walter Jenner, Hamilton Reach, 1885, oil on wood panel, 21.7 x 52.4 cm Source: Fry 1994, 45 Figure 15 Isaac Walter Jenner, On the Edge of the Swamp, Norman Creek 1889, oil on canvas 24.7 x 40 cm Source: Fry 1994, 55 Figure 16 William Buelow Gould (1801–53), River Scene, ca. 1827–53, oil on tin, 15.2 x 20.9 cm Source: Darby 1980, 96 (dating note: Gould arrived in Australia in 1827 and died there in 1853) Figure 17 Eugène von Guérard, Tower Hill, 1855, oil on canvas, 68.6 x 122 cm Source: Pullen 2011, 115 Figure 18 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 13: Indooroopilly Bridge, May 5 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 19 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 1: Indooroopilly Reach, March 6 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Jennifer Stuerzl, The Brisbane River: Art, Ecology and Perception page iv Figure 20 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 7: Indooroopilly Reach, March 6 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 21 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 8: Water, Earth and Sky, July 3 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 22 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 5: Towards Indooroopilly Bridge, July 3 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 23 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study in Light 6: Indooroopilly Reach, January 9 pm, 2006, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 24 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study of the Littoral Edge, 2008, sponging and stencilling techniques, oil on cotton canvas, one of two 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 25 Jennifer Stuerzl, Study of the Littoral Edge, 2008, sgraffito technique, oil on canvas, one of two, 30.5 x 20.5 cm Figure 26 Jennifer Stuerzl, Journal Sketch, 2008, pencil on paper Figure 27 Jennifer Stuerzl, Fragile Nature: Song of the River, 2008, oil on polyester canvas, 50 x 150 cm Figure 28 Jennifer Stuerzl, Experimental Study (diptych), 2008, oil and shellac on cotton canvas, 30 x 20 cm Figure 29 Jennifer Stuerzl, Journal Mixed Media Study, 2008, acrylic, pencil, watercolour on paper Figure 30 Jennifer Stuerzl, Journal Sketch, 2008, pencil on paper Figure 31 Jennifer Stuerzl, Journal Sketch, 2008, pencil on paper Figure 32 Jennifer Stuerzl, Night River 1, 2008, oil on polyester canvas, 167.5 x 45 cm Figure 33 J.A.M.Whistler, Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge, 1873, oil on canvas, 66.6 x 50.2 cm. Tate Gallery, London Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/whistler-nocturne-blue-and- gold-old-battersea-bridge-n01959 Figure 34 Jennifer Stuerzl, Fragile Nature 1, 2008, oil on polyester canvas, 19 x 180 cm Figure 35 Jennifer Stuerzl, Fragile Nature 3, 2008, collage and oil paint on polyester canvas, 19 x 180 cm Jennifer Stuerzl, The Brisbane River: Art, Ecology and Perception page v Figure 36 Jennifer Stuerzl, Fragile Nature: Nocturne in Green Water, Mangroves and Light, 2008, oil paint on polyester canvas, 182.5 x 30 cm Figure 37 John Wolseley, Upside-down Flowers Leptosema Chambersii, 1982, watercolour, pencil and found ochres on paper, 102 x 65 cm Source: Grishin 2006, 54 Figure 38 Jennifer Stuerzl, Brisbane River, Partly Submerged Tree Trunk, Wivenhoe Dam, 2009, photograph Figure 39 Jennifer Stuerzl, Brisbane River, Native Callistemon and Eucalypts, Wivenhoe Dam, 2009, photograph